Cactus, which took the 2nd place in the regular championship, hosted Mgzavrebi, which was on the 7th place and lost with 16-points difference. The result of the match was not as unexpected as the fact, that the match ended so that the situation was not tense.
Mgzavrebi trained by Buba Berishvili played well, but their victory was also helped by Cactus’ mistakes. However, the match was more or less equal until the end. Mgavrebi won the first period 22:20, then gained 5-points advantage before the big break – 40:35. Cactus improved the game in the 3rd quarter but this did not help, at the last minutes of the match, the leadership of Mgzavrebi exceeded 10 points and they didn’t give up this advantage until the end. Eventually, Mgzavrebi won with 16 points difference – 85:69.
We should note Adrian Bowie’s long shots and fast breaks, Kakha Jintcharadze, Bernard Nkal and Otar Pkhakadze were also very productive. Adrian Bowie led the winners with 22 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. Kakha Jintcharadze scored 20 points. Bernard Nkal had 11 points. Otar Pkhakadze and Taylor Stafford scored 10-10 points each.Deandre Parks was the most effective with 24 points in Cactus. Christian Johnson scored 11 points. John Mitchell had 10 points and 7 rebounds.
The next match will be held on May 8, 16:00, at Tbilisi Olympic Palace. If Cactus wins, the decisive match will be held on May 10, 16:00. If not, Mgzavrebi will play in semi-finals.
Archil Jghenti – Cactus head coach:
“I congratulate Mgzavrebi on this deserved victory. We probably weren’t able to renew the forces after The Cup finals. The score is 1:0 yet and we will prepare for the next game.”
Buba Berishvili – Mgzavrebi head coach:
“I am very grateful to my boys, they did their best. Of course, we made mistakes, but we improved the game in the 3rd and 4th periods and this led us to the victory. We have been preparing for this team for a long time and I’m glad that we have achieved the maximum result. The next game will not be easy, so we should prepare well.”
